In solid state imaging devices such as CCD image sensors, an optical noise called smear is sometimes produced. The smear is induced by unwanted electric charge in a vertical CCD, and such unwanted electric charge arises from intense light which enters the solid state imaging device at an oblique angle. As shown in FIG. 5, the incident light at an oblique angle from an optical axis L of a microlens 33 is reflected on a recess of a light shielding layer 27. The reflected light goes under the light shielding layer 27 from an opening 27a of the light shielding layer 27 to penetrate an insulation layer 25, and finally encounters a vertical CCD 13. This incident light to the vertical CCD 13 undergoes the photoelectric conversion, and produces the unwanted electric charge.
As a countermeasure to such disadvantage, Japanese patent laid-open publication No. 10-135433 discloses a solid state imaging device which has an jagged interface between the light shielding layer 27 and the insulation layer 25. Reflecting diffusely on the jagged interface, the incident light that goes under the light shielding layer 27 hardly enters the vertical CCD 13, and the smear is therefore reduced.
However, this solid state imaging device does not aim to prevent the incoming of the light under the light shielding layer, and is still not an adequate countermeasure.